Moist Cake Quest - Cake #3

With a week to go until Charlotte's Birthday, I set out to bake the last attempt at a moist cake before breaking out the Dunkin Hines. The first cake was a bust, the second was so close.... will the third time truly be a charm?

I was so excited to bake cake #3 with my sister, Katie, since she and her husband were in town this past weekend. I have love being around my little sister. She's hilarious. I wish we lived closer. I miss her already.

I bought two 9" cake pans and made sure they were 2" deep. I'm remaking this recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Fingers crossed that the pans make this cake the winner.

She helped me mix all the ingredients and her sweet husband David was nice enough to take pictures of us baking together.

As you can see, we are very serious in the kitchen.

Very, very serious.....

I'm not sure why but the cakes baked much more evenly this time. I lined the oven rack under them with aluminum foil in case we had an over-flow like last time (we didn't) and I also used the new cake pans. I guess one of those factors resulted in evenly baked cakes.

I took the cakes out as soon as the middles weren't jiggly (if you tap the oven rack with a potholder the center of a cake will jiggle if it's not done... at least that's what has worked for me)

This made one seriously tall cake. I'll stick wooden sticks in it next time to keep the layers from sliding. This cake slice ended up losing it's top half as it fell backward under it's own weight. I made white buttercream with my go-to recipe.

The Verdict: Drumroll please.......

We Have A Winner!!!!! It was fantastic! The cake was light and moist. It even got better the day after it was baked. On day 3 it was still moist! Everyone in my family thought it was a great cake. The cake itself had great flavor and I would have been happy eating it alone, unfrosted. My husband still wants a huge bowl of just the frosting...

So, looks like I'll be making this cake again this Friday for Charlotte's birthday party Saturday. I'll show you pictures of how I decorate it.

My mom and sister had a great idea to turn this cake recipe into a lemon cake with a lemon glaze... stay tuned.

Al Ain Zoo

Asalam Alaikum,

We finally got the chance to see the Al Ain Zoo, and it was a lot of fun.
Saad really loved seeing all the animals. The only bad thing was that we went rather late and they closed the area with the big cats at 6:00 so we didn't get to see most of the lions/tigers.
We saw these flamingos first-

Then Saad had a nice climb on the meercat exhibit-

The meercats were very cute!

African Painted Dogs-

Cheetahs-


Ostriches-

Wildebeest-

Checking out the giraffes with daddy-


Zebra-

This lion just would not sit still and was pacing back and forth.

This little guy has nothing on the ones that we saw on our honeymoon when we went to the Alligator Farm

Weekly Menu

Wow, I haven't blogged in almost a week. It's been a busy past couple days. My mom and Mark moved this weekend (same city, different house). My sister and her hubby came down from MD to get some furniture Mom didn't need anymore and ended up staying longer to help in the moving effort. There was a fiasco with the moving company so we all pitched in this weekend hauling boxes and packing last minute stuff. I'm so happy for them that they're in their new house and *fingers crossed* the moving van will show up with their belongings this morning.

So, back to the weekly menu....

Monday: Chicken Pot Pie (I made an extra last Friday)
Tuesday: Beef Stroganoff on egg noodles
Wednesday: Baked chicken, Perloe (Cajun rice dish), veggie
Thursday: Mac & Cheese & Veggies
Friday: Spaghetti
Saturday: Dinner out with family in from out of town for C's b-day
Sunday: Homemade Pizza

Thinking....

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

James 5:16

When reading through the book of James there are so many things that speak to me and encourage me or challenge me. The verse above is one that challenges me. Especially the confess your sins to one another part. I totally believe that I need to confess my sins and I do that to God on a daily basis but the confessing to one another part.... that doesn't happen so much. I think about it sometimes and then something inside me makes me feel a little scared, shy, timid, PROUD, I don't know what all but then I shrink back from sharing and asking for prayer.

This is something I want to change. That doesn't mean this blog will become this tell all place (As far as I am concerned that isn't what blogs are for, I hope to make this an encouraging and uplifting place) but in life with my family and close friends and brothers and sisters at church, I want to be open with my struggles. Be willing to admit that I have problems and failures and then ask for prayer. It says that prayer can accomplish much and I really, really believe that but why do I not make use of that prayer to the full extent?

How about you? What do you think on this verse? Does it challenge you too or is it something that you have practised and seen the benefits of?

Thinking....

"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."

James 5:16

When reading through the book of James there are so many things that speak to me and encourage me or challenge me. The verse above is one that challenges me. Especially the confess your sins to one another part. I totally believe that I need to confess my sins and I do that to God on a daily basis but the confessing to one another part.... that doesn't happen so much. I think about it sometimes and then something inside me makes me feel a little scared, shy, timid, PROUD, I don't know what all but then I shrink back from sharing and asking for prayer.

This is something I want to change. That doesn't mean this blog will become this tell all place (As far as I am concerned that isn't what blogs are for, I hope to make this an encouraging and uplifting place) but in life with my family and close friends and brothers and sisters at church, I want to be open with my struggles. Be willing to admit that I have problems and failures and then ask for prayer. It says that prayer can accomplish much and I really, really believe that but why do I not make use of that prayer to the full extent?

How about you? What do you think on this verse? Does it challenge you too or is it something that you have practised and seen the benefits of?